VCM is pin compatible with existing DIMM technology. It slots straight in. The mainboard, by reading the SPD information within the onboard EPROM configures itself for VCM operation. Not all mainboards support VCM - Intel chipset mainboards do not support this memory, while most VIA based mainboards do support this new memory architecture.
Virtual Channel Memory attempts to provide high speed data transfers by means of data channel buses, which are configured by high speed registers. Virtual channel memory performs read and write operations to the channel buffers outside the memory. This is known as foreground processing. Background operations (think of this as internal housekeeping with the DIMM), such as precharge or memory cell refresh can be performed separately from foreground processing. This separation of duties allows for a degree of parallelism within the DIMM module, theoretically increasing performance.
